Time flies by

Wow, it has been nearly a month since I last blogged. Qué horrible! I apologize to all of my loyal blog readers that I have left in the dark. I will now try to summarize/recap the past month starting with Córdoba, where I left off.

Córdoba was very fun. A beautiful city, and the famous salmorejo was as good as everyone promised (so therefore very good). We had a very successful day, and got to see the Mezquita as well as a palace of the reyes catolicos (Isabel and Ferdinand). It was especially nice because there weren't many tourists, so basically we got to have that feeling of being a little kid exploring a castle and discovering secret passageways and such (because no one was around to remind us that it is actually a present day tourist attraction). I believe we had intended to go to Córdoba on a Friday, but went on a Saturday instead, and it worked out in our favor because the weather was beautiful. Then that following Tuesday, Gloria moved out. She told us Sunday (or maybe it was Monday...) during lunch that she would be moving, and then basically packed up all of her stuff and left. It was definitely hard for her to tell us about it, and she had to work hard not to cry, so we made her chocolate chip cookies that night as a final "farewell."
Liz and I haven't seen her since then, but will probably stop by her shop before we leave to say goodbye and feliz navidad.

Then the next week, 90% of my blog readers came and visited me! It was great to see some of my family and share part of Granada with everyone (my grandparents, mom, and two younger sisters). The first full day they were here, my mom's wallet was stolen which was quite the fiasco. However, there just so happened to be an undercover cop in the alley outside of the shoe store where they were shopping, so after several hours (of canceling credit cards, trying to talk to police officers, and going back to the stores they had been to that day) I arrived from class and saved the day. Just kidding, the police contacted the hotel, and we were able to get the wallet back with nothing missing! Liz and I were pleasantly surprised to find out that the Granada police actually do something other than stand around.

We also rented a car and went to Málaga and Gibraltar while they were here. Málaga was fun because it is a big and nice Andaluz city (similar to Granada but bigger and on the costa del sol). I personally enjoyed seeing the Picasso museum, and maybe my grandparents perception of Picasso was changed a little in going there ;)

Gibraltar was also pretty cool and interesting, but a very weird place. So weird in fact, that I was inspired to do my final presentation for my oral and writing class about Gibraltar the following week. Now I feel like I understand the strangeness quite a bit more (after researching to talk for 20 minutes in spanish about it, I would hope that I have a better understanding...). For those of you who know nothing about Gibraltar, it is an English territory located on the southernmost tip of Spain. From the Rock of Gibraltar, you can see Morocco! This is also the only place in all of Europe that has monkeys in the wild.
The political situation is odd though because basically, Spain wants Gibraltar for Spain, England wants to keep Gibraltar, and the Gibraltarians (who do not consider themselves Spanish nor English) are happy staying an english territory and do not want to join Spain. There is much more to its history, so maybe at some point if I'm feeling like it I will translate my presentation for you all to read here.
Here are several pictures from our Thanksgiving week!

Feeling the Mediterranean

Tasting the Mediterranean

Enjoying the Mediterranean

Sun setting over the Mediterranean (in Málaga)

La Alhambra!

what a beautiful vista

Gibraltar monos

Group photo on the Rock of Gibraltar!

So odd.

The rock!

It was weird saying goodbye to my family again because although I don't have much time left in Spain, I won't actually be back in the states until mid February. Anyway, the following week was good but busy with makeup work from the classes that I didn't go to the previous week. And thennnnn that leads me to my trip to Barcelona!!!

First of all, Barcelona is a fantastic city. I didn't get to spend an enormous amount of time in either Madrid or Barcelona, but if I had to choose, I think I might choose Barcelona. There is so much to see and do in Barcelona, and for only being there for two nights and two days, we did a lot! Everything worked out perfectly because I got to stay with Emma in her flat which was really fun and it was great to be with someone who lives there and knows their way around. I had wanted to go to the Dalí museum, but as it turns out, this museum is quite a ways away outside of Barcelona, so we didn't end up going. We did get to go to the Sagrada Familia though (Gaudí's most impressive and well known work) and we went in it and up in one of the towers. This cathedral was spectacular and well worth the pricey price. We also went to Parque Güell and saw two of Gaudís famous houses. The next day, we met up with my cousin Cara and one of Cara's friends and went to a giant flea market, the gothic area of the city, a giant fruit market (with some amazing juices), a giant plaza with an old palace that is now an art museum, and more. I also met one of Emma's friends who plays on the FCBarcelona woman's soccer team. Cool or cool? So basically, I had a really great time in Barcelona, and here are some pictures to illustrate it. :)

Also, a brief Barcelona background in the context of the rest of Spain. Barcelona is part of the Catalunya region of spain (these regions are kind of like states, I am in the region of Andalucía, but each very much has their own feel) where they speak Catalan. Pretty much everyone in Catalunya speaks both Catalan and Spanish, but the Catalunyan pride is very strong, and has a slightly snobbish reputation in the rest of spain. There is also quite a bit of tension because Catalunya wants to separate from Spain (will this actually happen? probably not, but still). The culture is also quite strong because during the Spanish dictatorship of Franco, it was illegal to speak Catalan and many traditions were forced to be repressed. So basically this is all still a very sensitive matter and only contributes to the poor state that Spain is in right now. Catalunya is one of the regions that is doing the best in this economic crisis, but that means that they pay the most taxes and get back the least, so many of the people there are also mad about that. Sorry if that explanation was not a very good one.

And now for a final home update: Since Gloria is gone, Luna has been missing her and is settling to hang out with me. She even lets me pick her up with some frequency now. Tortuga is currently hibernating behind the couch. Who knew that turtles hibernate... they do though, I promise we will not have another dead turtle while I'm here.

Next week will be pretty busy because I have a few papers and such due and it is the last week of my internship. Bittersweet. It has been really interesting working in the school here, and fun too! Tuesday was the first time I was late, but my alarm clock didn't go off... or if it did I turned it off in my sleep... Anyway, I was a half an hour late, but walked in hurriedly apologizing and I bet you can guess what the teacher said. "No pasa nada!" The class cheered as I entered, I was asked out by a twelve year old boy, later another little boy made me a paper dragon plane, one drew me a picture, and in one of the classes we just sang english Christmas songs for most of the class.
Then the following week we have finals and it is our last weekend and then basically everyone leaves the 21st and I leave the 23rd!
So weird. I know I will return at some point, but it's odd not knowing when. It's also odd knowing that I won't be returning to the same people. Regardless, I will miss Granada and I think it will always be my second home.